28th May, 2003 - a report

At the beginning of this year, I realised that it was going to be a special one; my father would complete 80 years and my mother, 70. How else could we celebrate this but through dance-especially since my sister, Hema and my niece, Vidya were to join us from Australia. We decided to have a recital, on 28th May, 2003, with traditional items, including as many Gods as we could from the Hindu Pantheon and each of us would do a solo.

Just 10 days before the programme, the very day that Vidya was scheduled to arrive, we were at Aunty’s place, practising, when she suddenly became breathless and had to be immediately hospitalised. The timely arrival of the doctor and the treatment averted what could have been a major heart attack. She was in the ICCU for 3 days.

In the meanwhile, we were totally confused; do we continue the programme without her? When she was well enough to speak, that was the first thing on her mind-she instructed me to go ahead with the recital; the show must go on at all costs. Her amazing will power enabled her to attend the show and her presence in the first row gave us immense strength to perform our best.

It was the first time in 51 years of her teaching career, that she did not conduct the show, but played the role of a spectator. We were indeed blessed to have Jaya Aunty and her daughter, Saraswathy Lapsia, senior student of Aunty, who conducted the recital with aplomb. It was evident that the training they had received from Aunty over the years had equipped them sufficiently and enabled them to get ready in barely 10 days.

An invocational prayer to Ganesha and some slokas from Soundarya Lahari invoking the Mother Goddess set the mood for the evening. ‘Papa paatu’ with Moksha was enjoyable; I felt I was really cajoling her to do her Maths ! Vidya’s Ramayana sabdam was inspiring, while Hema’s Hindi padam, ‘Aja aja’ brought baby Krishna alive. Both compositions are Aunty’s, so also the Varnam, ‘Charanadainden’ from her books, Nritya Geeta Mala, Vols. 1 & 2. Maya’s ‘Paalvadiyum’ (a favourite of her grand-father’s) and Moksha’s ‘Urugiduvaay’ were appreciated, while Maya, Vidya and I enjoyed dancing together the Varnam and Tillana (in Desh). But the one piece that I really enjoyed was the mother-daughter dialogue, in ‘Kandukondain’ again Aunty’s composition; a new piece that was presented for the first time. It was like doing what comes natural; mothering my daughter through dance ! Vidya’s thanksgiving speech was very emotional and greatly appreciated.

The programme was well attended. We were very happy and gratified to see an auditorium almost filled to capacity, and all our friends and well-wishers, present there on our special day. Needless to say, our parents were extremely happy to see us all together on stage.

We salute that Supreme Lord, through whose grace and blessings these celebrations were possible. Om Tat Sat.

- Jaishree Rao